The Century recommends

Dec 16, 2008

Since the Reagan era, a version of supply-side economics that is persuasive only to fringe economists and to right-wing editorial writers has shaped debate over public policy. According to this view, tax cuts are magically curative: they stimulate growth in the economy, which in turn sparks a rise in government revenue. The circle is thereby squared: one can cut taxes and increase government spending at the same time. Chait offers an invaluable summary of how media and corporate lobbyists have made this belief a staple of politics even in the face of empirical evidence to the contrary.